The QE2 Is Missing

“It’s not meant to be. You’ll see.” Hank led the way across the restaurant towards the paunchy man in the light blue sports jacket. The jacket was almost the same color, he realized, as the blue-rinsed gray hair of the woman who sat across from him, sipping white wine.

“The restaurant is crowded,” Hank said, “is it all right if we sit here?”

“Be my guest,” the man said in a deep voice with a decided New York accent. “Always glad to help a countryman. And we’ve been eating with limeys for the last week.”

Frances frowned and started to speak — then thought better of it. Hank gave her an appreciative wink, then pulled the chair out for her.

“My wife’s a limey,” he said, smiling.

“Great news. They’re wonderful people, though none of the others are as good looking as her.” Frances smiled at this, flattery will always get you somewhere; and sat down gracefully. Hank joined them and got right to work.

“My name is Hank Greenstein, this is my wife, Frances. And you are Mr. and Mrs. Wunderbaum.”

“We got mutual friends in the shmotta business or something?” Wunderbaum asked.

“No, sorry. You were pointed out to me. You’ve just arrived in Sydney aboard the QE2.”

“A day tour of the city,” Mrs. Wunderbaum said. “Everything included in the price of the cruise, including lunch in this restaurant. They didn’t tell us it was going to rain.”

“They rarely do in cruise brochures,” Hank said. “Are you enjoying the voyage so far?”

“It’s very nice…. “

“The food is drek,” Wunderbaum said.

“But in such big portions,” she admonished him. “The doctor said a cruise, so you got a cruise.”

“I’m going to get a new doctor who tells me Miami. At least when I make a business call from there it’s in the same time zone.”

“I have a reason for asking,” Hank said. “This may sound strange, but please think about it carefully before answering. It’s this — would you possibly be willing to cancel this cruise if you had all of your money refunded and were flown back to the States? First Class, of course.”

“Something wrong with my business that they’re not telling me about!” Wunderbaum cried. “I knew it. Go away for a week and theyoulds lose me business. Go on a world cruise and I’m out of business…. “

“No, please,” Hank said. “This has nothing to do with your affairs. It’s another matter completely. It’s just that I and my wife would like to use your suite for the balance of the cruise.”

Hank was aware of Frances’s dropping jaw and staring eyes; however, he did not let his gaze meet hers.

Wunderbaum had his own eyes half closed in a most suspicious squint.

“What are you up to? What’s this all about?”

“Are you personally acquainted with Mr. David Rabino?”

“Show me someone in the garment center that isn’t. All of us together, we personally support the State of Israel.”

“Would you know his signature?”

“He knows mine better. I give him enough checks.”

“Seriously. Would you recognize his signature and letterhead?”

“Know it? I could forge it. Dave and I, we worked together for years before he got into fund-raising full time. It beats retiring, he said.”

Hank took the envelope from his pocket and extracted the letter and passed it over. Wunderbaum opened it and spread it flat on the table before him. Then he took his reading glasses out of his breast pocket and perched them on the end of his nose. He read slowly, and at one point said Veyl under his breath and looked up at Hank. Then he finished the letter and handed it back. When I think about it, Rabino’s signature, it’s maybe easy to forge.”

“Maybe. And I don’t want you to make your mind up on the letter alone. Do you have his phone number? He’s waiting for a call from you.”

“Sure I know his number. But, mister, here in Australia it’s like twenty-one hours behind New York. So it’s early tomorrow of a Sunday there and could be he wants to sleep?”

“He said you’re to call him at any time, day or night. It’s that important.”

“I’ll give him a call now,” Wunderbaum said, climbing heavily to his feet.

“The food, it’ll get cold,” his wife called after him.

“Tell them to put it back into the oven. If it’s like what we eat on the boat it won’t do no harm.”

“You shouldn’t ask him things like this,” she said, unhappily, looking after his vanishing back.

“I’m really very sorry,” Hank said. “If there were any other way, believe me, I would have done that. But this is it.”

“But why? What’s going on?”

“I’m sure your husband will tell you.”

“Not if he’s like my husband,” Frances broke in, unable to remain quiet any longer. “Mount Rushmore tells me more than he does.”

“And so!” Mrs. Wunderbaum reached out and patted her hand consolingly. “They’re all the same. The business worries them all the time and they never tell you why, so you worry too, and so what do you get. Trouble. It’s that kind of world.”